The penultimate episode has arrived! Jimmy’s metamorphosis is nearly complete as
he struggles with his most challenging critic, his brother Chuck. Mike continues to play the long chess game to
seek revenge on Hector Salamanca. Kim is
torn between her desire for success and her own moral compass. As usual, Jimmy has put her in an awkward
position. This episode continues to
provide the viewer with stunning visuals and colors, which express mood and
emotion behind the dialogue.
On a vast desert highway, near an ancient sign for “Oasis
Motor Inn.” Mike has concealed his car. (Now painted blue from black.) Dressed in black, including a full-facial
covering, he secures a steel cable on a pulley system. In the colorful Helado truck, the Mexican
driver blares his radio and sings along. When his truck is too close to stop, Mike
pulls the nail and hose strip he made last week across the truck’s path. The truck’s tires are punctured and it comes
to a stop on the road’s dusty shoulder.
The driver is shocked and removes a gun from the glove box before
exiting the cab. The driver surveys the
area to see Mike’s blue car by the decaying billboard. Wordlessly, Mike surprises the man by putting
a gun to his head. Moments later, the driver is secured with duct tape over his
mouth and binding his arms and legs. Mike
can now work leisurely at cutting the truck’s tires until he finds a cache of
cash. Mike places the money in his car’s
trunk and drives away.
The open credits roll depicting a “Better Call Saul”
matchbook becoming wet in a dirty urinal.
Chuck dresses for another day out in the real world. Howard has arrived to pick him up for a
hearing regarding Mesa Verde. Howard
expresses concern regarding Chuck’s health. Chuck shrugs off his concern, stating, “I find
victory laps very comforting.” The pair leaves in Howard’s black BMW. Jimmy has been watching his brother’s house
at a distance behind a try. As the car
disappears, he approaches the house.
Chuck hesitates when confronted with the reality of daily activities,
which exacerbate his condition. He
barely makes it through the courthouse security without fainting. The hearing is before the New Mexico Banking
Board. Chuck is presenting the Mesa
Verde application to expand their enterprise to neighboring Arizona. The hearing appears to be going smoothly
until a woman hands over some documents to the chairperson. There is a discrepancy in the address of the
proposed new branch site. This was
Jimmy’s secret mission at the print shop, changing the filing application to
reflect the wrong address. Chuck is
flustered and points the blame at Paige, Mesa Verde’s counsel. Kevin, the chair of the bank defends her. Chuck apologizes and asks the Bank Board chair
if he can amend the filing. The chair
declines an amendment, stating the Board will have to postpone the hearing for
another six weeks. Kevin and Paige are
displeased with this development. Chuck’s
head hums loudly with electricity.
Once safely at home, Chuck rages about the situation, “This
is not possible. I checked!” Howard
tries to comfort him that it wasn’t just his mistake but the whole firm’s. Chuck looks at his boxes of documents and
deduces, “This was no mistake!” Has he already figured out Jimmy tampered with
the papers?
Mike is in his usual spot staking out Salamanca’s ice cream
shop at night. Hector and his associates
speak animatedly inside. They probably
know about the hit on their delivery. Mike
enters a sleazy bar and pool hall. He
ensures his presence will be remembered by buying the entire bar a drink using
his stolen cash. It’s unclear why he’d
want to raise suspicion on himself, but Mike is always playing a long strategically
complex game.
Jimmy and Kim work together to remove the dentist chairs
from their new-shared space. They have
chosen a bold “terra cotta” color for the walls, the same color as one of
Jimmy’s new suits. Kim’s cell phone
rings. She tells Jimmy it was Paige and
they would like to meet with her again.
Jimmy feigns surprise as Kim tells him the Mesa Verde filing didn’t go
through with HHM. Kim knows she’ll need
help with the account and excitedly talks about hiring some paralegals. Jimmy advises her to “breathe and savor” the
moment. Kim’s phone rings again, and
this time it’s Ernie, Chuck’s “assistant.” Ernie asks Kim to come over immediately to
pick up the Mesa Verde documents. His
eagerness surprises Kim, but she tells Jimmy she’s going to change and head
over to his brother’s house.
Jimmy and Kim take his car to Chuck’s. Kim wears a crisp blue suit while Jimmy
continues to wear his blue polo shirt and slacks. He instructs her to “ground herself” before
entering the house. (Touching a grounding mechanism Chuck has set up on the
deck.) Jimmy is shocked to discover
Chuck has changed the locks. Chuck is
not happy to see his brother but decides to “clear the air” anyway. Chuck begins, “He sabotaged me!” Jimmy denies his accusation. Chuck describes the hearing as “The worst day
of my professional life!” (Hyperbole!) Chuck
continues, “It wasn’t my error. Jimmy
showed up, went through my Mesa Verde files and doctored them at a print shop.”
Chuck describes Jimmy’s high school
business of making fake id’s as proof of his forgery capabilities.
Kim looks pained at the accusations. Chuck continues to theorize Jimmy broke into
his home yesterday after he left for the hearing to place the original
documents back to make it appear it had been Chuck’s mistake. Chuck tells Kim his brother “Did it for you!”
He points out now that Kim knows of
Jimmy’s criminal actions; she must make a full disclosure to Mesa Verde. Chuck sneers at Jimmy for “ruining a fine
young woman.” Against Jimmy’s protests, Kim counters, “If this is true, Jimmy
could be charged with forgery and breaking and entering. Where is your evidence?” Chuck states his
evidence is that he knows his brother. Kim
accuses Chuck of making the address mistake and blaming it on Jimmy. She defends her boyfriend saying, “He’s not
perfect but you made him this way. He
idolized you and you judged him. You never believed in him. I feel sorry for him and you!”
Kim and Jimmy leave in his battered yellow car. She is fuming and punches Jimmy in the arm
repeatedly. Jimmy asks why and she
spits, “Just drive!” Kim knows Jimmy did
doctor the documents to win back her clients. However, she is desperate enough to succeed on
her own to pretend to not believe Chuck. This is precisely why she wanted separate practices;
she wants Jimmy’s criminal cunning but not the professional liability.
At an elementary school, children play at recess. Jimmy
waits for the children to disperse and takes a drink from his “World’s Second
Best Lawyer” mug. Once the playground is
clear, Jimmy and his film students enter school grounds. A young blonde woman hurriedly applies make-up
on Jimmy. Two women approach the motley
crew to ask them to leave the school property.
Jimmy makes up a story about speaking to “Anne at the superintendent’s
office” about filming footage for a documentary. Jimmy claims the movie is about Rupert Holmes,
a famous alumni of the school. One woman
asks who’s Rupert Holmes and Jimmy sings his greatest hit, “The Pina-Colada
Song.” One woman swoons while the other
remains skeptical. The young make-up
artist adds unhelpfully, “Wasn’t he British?” (Jimmy also claims Holmes
graduated in 1964, the school was built in 1971.) Amazingly, Jimmy smoothes out these wrinkles
of his story. The students have several
minutes to film while the women go back inside. The students capture Jimmy wearing a red shirt
and blue tie with the giant American flag waving in the background. Another commercial is in the can.
Mike has breakfast at his favorite dinner and is flirtatious
with the waitress, Fran. He looks over the paper with interest and asks he if
it snows in Albuquerque in the winter. Fran
says it snows occasionally and accepts his offer to shovel her property when it
does. (Wink, wink, Mike you sly dog.) Mike
receives a call from Nacho asking for a meeting immediately.
Mike drives to the regular abandoned warehouse location. Nacho asks directly if Mike knows anything
about one of their trucks, which was “hit” containing roughly quarter million
dollars of cash. Nacho elaborates the
driver was “hog tied” but left alive. Nacho
knows about Mike’s aversion to killing so he believes Mike was responsible for
the theft. Nacho explains the driver is
coming in to be questioned by Hector and asks Mike if the driver could identify
him. Nacho thinks Mike could not have
performed this crime alone. Mike
grumbles, “It was just me. You aren’t half as smart as you think you are.” Mike asks why the crime wasn’t reported in the
newspaper and wonders what the police thought of the scene. (What he was looking for while reading it at
the diner.) At the mention of police,
Nacho becomes agitated. He fears Mike
may have told the police about Hector or himself. Nacho reaches in his back waistband for his
pistol. Mike tells him to calm down,
assuring him he hasn’t told anyone about him or Hector. Mike adds, “I’m done with your boss.” Nacho explains how they “cleaned up” the
robbery. A “good Samaritan” helped the
driver by offering him a ride to Hector’s. In return, Hector shot that man in the face. Mike sighs deeply, all his planning didn’t
account for the ruthlessness of the Salamanca clan.
Jimmy brushes his teeth before bed. (This seems to be a
reoccurring illustration of their intimate relationship.) Kim speaks excitedly about her meeting with
Paige and her interviews with potential paralegals. Jimmy reports he had a productive day too,
shooting the “best commercial ever.” He
tells her it will air the next morning during “Diagnosis, Murder.” It seems Jimmy is still aiming for the elderly
demographic. Jimmy wonders if they
should talk about Chuck’s accusations. In
order to maintain her plausible deniability, Kim states, “Not now, not
ever.” Jimmy assures her she will be
great with Mesa Verde. Kim stays awake
in bed, reviewing documents. Even though
she just pronounced her wish to not talk about “it” she notes Charles McGill is
one smart lawyer. “He’d make a fine adversary.” She notes one has to make sure all the details
are correct or he’ll pounce on them. Jimmy
bolts out of bed and gets dressed to leave.
Jimmy arrives at the all-night print shop and observes Ernie
is inside speaking to the attendant who helped him the other night with his
“mission.” He watches Ernie leave before
entering the shop himself. Jimmy asks
the surly man, Lance, if he remembered him from the other night. Lance denies it, but Jimmy persists. Jimmy states he feels like Johnny Carson’s
“The Great Carnac” describing how the late comedian would make up an answer
before opening an envelope containing a question. Lance doesn’t seem to remember the Carson
routine, so Jimmy becomes less subtle. “Did
that guy who was just in here ask you about me?” Lance wonders if Jimmy is wanted for murder or
bank robbery. Jimmy explains he is
having a dispute with his brother and places some cash on the counter. Lance seems persuaded. Jimmy asks about the security
camera and wonders if Lance could erase him from it. Lance asks for two hundred
dollars for this “service.” Jimmy pays
it and laughs Lance has a bright career ahead of him.
Chuck paces at home wearing his thermal blanket. Ernie arrives to take Chuck to the print shop.
Jimmy watches his brother enter from a
dark alcove across the street. Chuck
places Jimmy’s photo in front of Lance who pretends not to recognize him. Chuck asks again and Jimmy observes the
interaction with satisfaction. Chuck is
flustered, especially since Lance gave a different answer to Ernie a mere hour
before. Lance shrugs he was mistaken. As Jimmy predicted, Chuck persists in
threatening Lance as “an officer of the court.” The lights and equipment in the shop increase
Chuck’s agitation. Ernie notices the
signs of his boss’s panic and urges him to leave. Chuck describes Jimmy’s crimes but Lance moves
from the counter to help another customer, telling Chuck the conversation is
over. Chuck collapses and hits his head
hard on the counter as he falls to the ground. Jimmy winces from his hiding spot. “Call 911;
call 911…” he whispers into the darkness. Despite his actions, Jimmy loves his brother
and seems genuinely concerned about Chuck’s condition. (But not enough to run
across the street to help.)
Next week is the finale followed by an episode of “Talking
Saul.” (Chris Hardwick calls himself the “poor man’s Ryan Seacrest” and it is
hard to avoid him if you watch AMC or Comedy Central. But it should be a good
hour of discussion of this epic season.) The preview offers a glimpse at Mike’s
next move; he is seen in the desert with the arms dealer aiming a long-range
rifle. Is this how Hector ended up
drooling in a wheelchair? Howard
threatens Jimmy, how much does he know about Jimmy’s maneuvers to win back Mesa
Verde for Kim? Did Chuck survive his
fall? He wasn’t moving and may have suffered a heart attack. Can Kim stay with Jimmy despite her growing
concerns about him getting caught for his activities? Who will Jimmy’s commercials reach, and has
he changed his name to “Saul Goodman”, we have yet to see the finished
product. The series has been thankfully
renewed for a third season. Hopefully, the creativity and storytelling will
continue to give this series the attention it deserves.
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